The present invention is generally directed to a modular lighting system and, more particularly, to a lighting system employing a multiple-mode, integrated track fixture. Although the present development will be show and described herein by way of reference to LED lighting elements, including flexible LED strips and/or for high efficiency tubular LED lamps, it will be recognized that the modular rail system herein may also be adapted for use with conventional fluorescent tubes.
A major effort in LED lighting is the development of replacement lamps for the fluorescent tube, which is in common use in industrial and commercial applications. An accepted direction of the technology is to directly replace the fluorescent lamp in its existing fixture with a mechanically equivalent LED equivalent tube which requires no modification of the mounting fixture. However, many applications including new construction require completely new lighting systems such as the ones described in this disclosure.
It has been determined that the LED requires less than 25% of the input power required by conventional non-fluorescent light sources and 50% less than fluorescent light sources. This reduced power requirement allows a significant increase in the number of lamps that can be accommodated on a single branch circuit. For example, assuming a power demand of 15 watts/lamp, as many as 100 lamps could be wired to a single 120V AC, 15 amp branch circuit.
Accordingly, the present disclosure contemplates a new and improved LED lighting system which can take advantage of such reduced power requirements.